Here are the reasons, thoughts and explanations for why each idea is something I would like to accomplish before I turn 30-years old. Please go here to read more on how this list was created.

Visit the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park
These are two places in our wondrous country that I am looking to take my breath away. However, visiting both is time consuming, requires extensive vacation time, is expensive and could take time away from accomplishing some of the other items on my list…more

Attempt to Donate Blood
I am deathly afraid of needles. I can watch any amount of blood and gore and have a decent threshold for pain. However, I cannot stand the site of a needle puncturing the skin…more

Sky dive
I wouldn’t say I am afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling from great heights. Jumping out of a plane appears to be contradictory to every motivated effort I have of avoiding falls that potentially have my last words before Heaven being…more

Pay off accrued debt with parents
As a college student, one often finds themselves lacking in funds. It is not so much that one always lacks money but $4.50 Starbucks drinks take precedent over sleep, $6.50 movies are much more worthwhile than studying, and keeping a car running saves one from the dangers of hitch hiking or, God forbid, walking…more

Pay off one of my three student loans
People from time to time ask the question, “If you could go back in time or re-do college over, what is the one thing you would change?” My response has been unwavering. I would apply for as many scholarships as possible…more

Learn to snowboard
The best way to go down a mountain is on your feet. I will be choosing to take that same route painfully on my tuckus…more

Hunt a deer
According to statistics from State Farm Insurance, an estimated 1.5 million vehicles collide with deer every year in the United States, causing $1.1 billion in property damage and in 2007 there were 223 human fatalities. I look at it as my chance to save lives and even the score…more

Learn to fly fish
On the water, 10 and 2 has a completely different connotation than it does for a 15-year old getting behind the wheel of a car. It is a perfect four count rhythm that seemingly sets souls adrift and minds awash….more

Make a wood desk or furniture item from scratch
“I’m a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That’s what kind of man I am.” – Ron Burgandy.
As I grew up I saw very little maintenance men, plumbers, painters, gardeners or anything of the sort around our house. That is because my dad was a jack-of-all-trades. I picked up a few things here and there through forced labor…I mean observing and helping out. And while I have inherited some of that handiness, I never actually built anything on my own…more

Read the Bible all the way through again
For me, having a healthy spiritual life is a very key component. Even though I know I am eternally saved by the sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ, it is important to grow in that relationship with Him. How does one grow closer to God and walk in His ways?..more

Play a full round of golf
This is kind of an odd addition for me. I am not a golf fan. I could care less about Tiger Woods or Phil Michelson or Charles Barkley. Because I am left handed, loaner clubs have not been readily available. Occasionally I have found one at a driving range where I have learned that I have a wicked slice to the left but can get the ball out to nearly 200 yards…more

Visit the Biltmore House
Being a fan of history, architecture and beautiful scenery, it is a little bit shocking that I have been within two to two and half hours (from Knoxville and Charlotte) for the last decade and have never once made an attempt to visit this gem…more

Return to UT for a football game
Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I bleed orange. I love the University of Tennessee. Even though I will be paying off student loans well into my 30’s, I never regretted the decision to go to an out of state school. The reason? Sitting in bleachers on a Saturday, rain or shine, with over 100,000 people who share one of my passions…more

Grow facial hair for a month just to see what it looks like
Every good counselor has a beard with which to stroke while in concerted thought. I do not. Mainly because I do have follicle producing pores surrounding my entire face. I think the longest I have gone without shaving is a week. I am a bit patchy but do enjoy the “rugged” look. The fact that my face is tad bit sensitive also provides motivation to shy away from having sharp metal objects scrape against its surface…more

Get licensed in Counseling
I have wanted to do counseling since at least the 12th grade. An aptitude test I dug up a few years ago said I have had an inclination to do it since I was in 8th grade.
Getting licensed in Counseling will be the culmination of years of hard work that most people don’t even realize I do…more

Get BachelorBytes website started
BachelorBytes is a goal I have been working on since last year. I have an idea for a web page that would fun to do, and depending on how successful it is, could earn a little notoriety and income on the side when I move into full time counseling…more

Get weight below 200 pounds
The last time I was under 200 pounds was my first semester in college. After that I steadily gained weight until I hit an all time high for me of 236 pounds in grad school…more

Edit My Grandparents’ Historical Videos into a DVD
I was fortunate enough to sit down with my grandparents during recent visits and have them recount what they remembered of their lives and the generation or two before them. I have fascinating raw footage and have been slowly working to edit it into a workable narrative of my family’s history and upbringing. This has replaced another goal on my list…more

Visit either Wrigley Field or Fenway Park a game
I am a pretty big baseball fan. I am not the type that buys season tickets or watches every game on TV though. Heck, in a 162 game season, I might watch 25 full games. But there is something about being at a live baseball game that send my mind into nostalgic trance and puts me at peace for the day…more

Ride on a motorcycle
Just reading this made my mother’s heart skip a beat and my father is probably dialing the first 9-digits of my phone number as they simultaneously get sick to their stomach. I have only had one experience with a motorcycle and to be vague, it left my grandmother holding a bike three times her weight causing an arm injury and caused my grandpa to resent me for the better part of a decade…more

Make my “40 Things to do Before Turning 40” List
One of things people have frequently compared this list to when describing my project is a “Bucket List.” Aside from it being morbid, there are many reasons why I chose not to make my list a bucket list. Chief amongst them is I do not yet know when I am going to die…more

Attempt a back flip off the ground
Despite my weight, I am surprisingly agile. Occasionally I like to throw people for a loop by performing a cartwheel into a back round off. I do not know how I learned how to do this but I have never taken gymnastics and have a perpetual fear of Greg Louganising my head every time I got on a diving board…more

Learn to sew on a button and fix a seam
This is probably…no wait…is the least manly thing on my list. Yet it is the one I am the most ashamed that I have not already done. My grandmother was a professional seamstress. My dad can sew with the best of them and sewed on all of my Boy Scout patches. Heck, even my blind mother can sew on a button and regularly knits hats and afghans. For God’s sake, it is practically hemmed into my genes (pun intended)…more

Attempt to run a 10k
To be perfectly frank, this one may be well beyond on my control. Currently I can not even run two miles and it is not all attributed to being out of shape…more

Complete the outline for my book/screenplay
Over the course of the past year I have come up with, what I believe to be, two solid concepts for a book or movie. I have put the ideas out there to a few people who have found them original and potentially captivating provided I can take the story in the right direction…more

Watch the American Film Institute’s entire top 100 list
For those are not aware, the American Film Institute has created a list of 100 of the greatest movies made in the last century. So pretty much since movies were relevant. I happen to be a big movie lover. There are movies that I love that are not on their list but hey, they can’t be right about everything…more

Sponsor a child through Compassion International
In high school I suggested sponsoring a child through Compassion International and as a youth group, we collected money and sponsored Dilipthumar Muthkamar in India for about a year. I have wanted to sponsor other children ever since but have always found lack of funds as an excuse…more

Work on a Habitat house
My dad, as I mentioned in another description is a jack of all trades. He used his powers for good and would often help out by building Habitat for Humanity homes. Even though I do not know half of the stuff he does, I still think that I can donate my time to this worthy cause. I hope to get a lot out of it to thought…more

Learn to play three full songs on the piano
I love music but other than the steering wheel drums, I can’t play an instrument to save my life. Learning to play three songs on an instrument I have never played before is going to be one whopper of a task for me. But I am going to learn to do a little tap-tap-tap-a-roo on the ivories. Don’t worry singing will not be part of the deal…more

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5 Responses

i can definitely help you out with 3 things…1. I can definitely teach you how to flyfish, maybe let you borrow all my gear for a little while also…2. i can definitely give you a ride on my motorcycle, but i would rather just teach you how to ride it, it’s a whole different ball game. and if you total it, it would make Courtney very happy to be rid of it, plus i’m like 2g’s under on it, haha, so needless to say not worried about you dropping it…3. i can definitely help you build your desk, in fact, if you come over to wilmington soon, maybe i can convince my boss to let us use the shop for a couple days, at least to get it started. if not, i definitely have the tools and know how to help you for sure…or at least guide you on what and how